 Oh, yes, let's continue. I was just going through the notes which have been provided on this subject. And I was just thinking, why did pastor include these chapters and what did he hope to accomplish by writing down all of these things? And I just kind of realized that this section on repentance, I think he basically put in these things to kind of move us on towards action. It's all very nice talking about holiness and understanding the need for holiness and the importance of it and all of that. But no point in just thinking about it. It's time to also act. It's also time to step up where you say, OK, fine. I'm actually going to get down and do whatever is needed to make this happen. So we are just going to have two sessions on this section. But the whole idea behind this today's session and the next session is basically to understand that it's all about action. It's not enough to just simply long for holiness and pray for holiness. But we also need to be acting. We should be actively identifying all those areas where correction is needed, where growth is needed, and start putting those things into practice. So we will now just kind of look at a few passages which talk about this. So if you've noticed, this is not really about imparting any new information or new revelations. It's more this session and next week's session. It's more about reminding ourselves about what God expects of us. So once we have understood what God expects of us, because these are the things which Jesus very openly writes to the churches. He's not writing to unbelievers. He writes to the churches. And he says, I need you to sharpen up in these areas. You're getting slack, and it won't do. So God is very serious about actual action. So let's actually look at some scriptures which talk about that. We are familiar with them, but hopefully even as we go through these scriptures once more, it will kind of stir up in us a resolve, a determination to actually act upon what God is telling us to do. So Matthew chapter 3, verses 7 to 10, if someone could read out please. Matthew 3, 7 to 10. Matthew chapter 3, verses 7 to 10. But when he saw many of the Pharisees and Sadducees coming to where he was baptizing, he said to them, you brood of vipers who warned you to flee from the coming blood. Produce fruit in keeping with the repentance. And do not think you can say to yourself, we have Abraham as our father. I tell you that out of these stones, God can raise up children for Abraham. The axe is already at the root of the trees, and every tree that does not produce good fruit will be cut down and thrown into the fire. All right, so here we have John the Baptist speaking. And when the Pharisees and Sadducees come over there to the river to undergo this ritual of baptism, he says to them, this ritual doesn't apply to you. Why? Because you are not producing fruit which demonstrates that you are repentant. So if you were producing fruit in your lives, if your actions, if your words, if your thoughts were something which reflect repentance, then yes, this baptism ceremony would have applied to you. But then the way you are living your lifestyle, it shows that you are not doing anything that shows repentance. So for such people, he says there is already, the axe is already at the root of the tree, okay? So he says it is not enough to have a godly lineage, just because you are descendants of Abraham, that's not enough. What are you in your heart right now? What are your actions right now? That also counts. So in the same way, it's not enough for us believers to say, now God is our father, he's our abba father. Yes, it is good. It's good that we have been accepted into the Lord's family and it is good that God is now our heavenly father. But what about your actions? Are you living like as if you belong to God? Are you living like a child of God or not? Because finally it comes down to action. Now I am not saying that salvation is based on works because salvation is a free gift that God gives to helpless people who can never change themselves on their own. So it's a free gift that is given to us. We don't earn salvation in any way. But once we are saved, we are saved for a purpose. Why did Jesus save us? And why did God redeem us? It is so that we would be made into the likeness of Jesus Christ. The whole point of salvation being offered to us is so that we can become into the likeness of Jesus Christ. And if we sit back and say, oh, I just came here for the ticket to heaven. I have no interest in becoming like Jesus Christ. Then it says over here, the ax is already laid at the root of the tree. So this is something we need to watch out. Why was salvation offered to us? What is the purpose of redemption? Why were our sins wiped out? Not just our past sins, even the future sins which we are gonna commit, all of them already forgiven and we are completely clothed in the righteousness of Christ. Why was all this done for us? There's a purpose so that we can be a holy people unto him so that we can become like Jesus Christ. And if you say, I don't want that and you're cancelling out the very purpose for which salvation was given, then all that awaits us is the ax which is already laid to the root of the tree. So it says in Matthew chapter three, verse 10, every tree that does not produce good fruit will be cut down and thrown into the fire. So it is not enough to say, Abraham is my father or God is my father, it has to show in your actions. You must, if you're a descendant of Abraham, then your actions must be the same as those of Abraham who submitted to the Lord even to the extent of being willing to sacrifice his own son. So, and if you say that God is your father, then your actions should be such that you are becoming more and more like Jesus Christ, his son. So, I mean, this is proof that your repentance is genuine, which is why Paul also says the same thing. Acts chapter 26, verse 20, if someone could read out, Acts 26, verse 20. Can I get the reference again, Acts chapter six? Acts 26, 20. Okay, okay. Acts chapter 26, verse 20, first to those in Damascus, then to those in Jerusalem and then to the Gentiles also. I preach that they should repent and turn to God and prove their repentance by their deeds. Prove their repentance by their deeds. So the repentance is genuine, there will be deeds and says in the NIV, demonstrate their repentance by their deeds. So if the repentance is true, it will automatically show up in the changed actions that we are now having in our lives. And I think it was last class that we looked upon this passage, Matthew chapter five, verses 29 and 30, where it says, if your right eye causes you to stumble, gouge it out and throw it away. And it goes on to talk about cutting off your right hand and all of that because it says, it is better for you to lose one part of your body than for your whole body to go into hell is what we saw. And we also saw the fact that this is a metaphoric language. Nothing is to be gained by actually physically cutting off a hand or gouging out an eye because the attitude of sin which is there inside will continue, right? So over here, it's metaphorically speaking. So Jesus is saying, if something is getting in the way, get rid of it. So we talked about how we would have to chop off all the triggers that lead us into temptation. So if it is the people with whom you are mingling and moving around with, if they are the ones leading you into sin, you would have to cut off that relationship with them. You can no longer be friends with them. If it is an internet channel that is some entertainment channel that is causing you to sin, then you would have to cancel off your subscription to that. So whatever it is that is kind of leading you towards sin, that has to be gouged out, that has to be cut off. So just simply cutting off literal body parts is not gonna change anything because that attitude of sin which is inside the heart and the mind, inside the unrenewed mind that would continue. So over here, it is metaphoric language where it is saying, whatever is causing you to sin, it's time to get rid of it. And sometimes it is very difficult to get rid of those things because the person might have been holding on to those things his entire lifetime. And so now to suddenly change, it's like almost if that person gives up that, then it's like they have nothing left because they have been so dependent on that thing. They're kind of addicted to that sin and they just give it up. It's like as if they're left with a vacuum and it's like they have nothing now left in their hands. So it's like almost as bad as that. So when it comes to cutting off the things which are leading us into sin, we may sometimes need the help of others. So when we cannot handle this living in holiness on our own, when we cannot get rid of those things which are dragging us down, when we cannot do it on our own, the wise thing, the godly thing which we are taught in scripture is that we must reach out to other mature believers who can help us in our walk. And not particularly sure whether we looked at this passage or not in our holiness sessions. Galatians chapter six versus one to two is someone could just turn in your Bible to that and you can actually tell me whether we touched upon that or not because there's no point in my repeating myself. It's just that I teach multiple courses and I have sometimes forget what I have taught where. So Galatians chapter six versus one to two, have we looked at that about carrying each other's burdens? Is that something which I talked about in our holiness series? Wow, is anyone even attending the class? Yeah, I think we once talked about it. Okay, so carrying each other's burdens and how that word over there burden what it signifies because then later on in, I think in Galatians four, it says, you know, you need to carry your own burden and we kind of looked at the contrast between carrying each other's burdens and carrying our own burden. So did we kind of talk about that? You know, the meaning of that word burden and what it actually means that did we cover? Well, okay, I'll, you know, just go ahead and touch upon that because it would kind of help if we know that. What it really makes me wonder is anyone there behind those, you know, those little tiles which with the names on them, is anyone even there in the class? We looked at Galatians chapter five once, 32, 24, we looked into that. Okay. And according to my notes, I wrote Galatians chapter six but I didn't write the verse, so it worked very well. Well, okay, yeah. So yeah, Galatians chapter six, you know, verses one and two, it says how we have a responsibility towards one another because this walking in holiness, this having to make sacrifices, all of this is not easy, easy to talk about but when it comes to actually chopping off those things which are holding us down, not something that we can do on our own. And so, you know, it urges us over here in the scriptures to help each other in doing that. So verse two, Galatians chapter six, verse two, very specifically says that it says, carry each other's burdens. And over here, that word burden, it's a Greek word baros, okay? It talks about a load which is so heavy that you cannot carry it on your own. So it's not talking about some ordinary burden, it's saying carry each other's burdens. Why? Because those burdens cannot be carried by that person on their own. You need help in doing that. So that word baros, this is basically the meaning of that word. You know, if someone could read out second Corinthians chapter one, verse eight. Second Corinthians chapter one, verse eight. Second Corinthians chapter one, verse eight. We do not want you to be uniformed brothers about the hardships we suffered in the province of Asia. We were under great pressure for beyond our ability to endure so that we dispelled even of life. It here, Paul is talking about the experiences that they had gone through. And he says, we were under great pressure far beyond our ability to endure. So over there when it's talking about the great pressure that they were under, this kind of pressure that they were unable to endure on their own, that word used over there is baros. So here in Galatians chapter six, that's the word being used. And Paul says to the believers, you got to help each other carry this kind of baros, this kind of burden. So when it comes to walking in holiness, it would really help if we can have one or two other persons who can walk alongside us. We can't open up to everyone about what we are going through in our spiritual life, but people whom we can trust, someone who's mature, if we can have one or two persons that we can reach out to and who can support us, strengthen us, that would make a great difference. So it says that we should help each other in carrying our burdens. So if we are unable to overcome some sin on our own, then we reach out to a fellow believer and we say, if you can pray along with me, if you can just encourage me when I'm feeling down, so that way we can encourage each other to walk in the Lord and maintain our holiness. So a holy walk is not something that we do on our own. So it is something that we would need the Lord's, we would need the Lord's help and the help of the Lord's people in having this walk. But God from His side, He also puts in that willingness and that desire for us to act in holiness. And so maybe we can look at Philippians chapter two verses 12 to 13, where it talks about how God, in fact, helps us in our having a holy life. Someone could read out Philippians two, 12 to 13. Log in. Philippians two, chapter two verse 12 to 13. Therefore, my beloved, as you have always obeyed, not as in my presence only, but now much more in my absence, work out your salvation with fear and trembling, for it is God who works in you both to will and to do His good pleasure. So it is the Lord who gives us that will, that desire to live in a godly way. Okay, so it's not like we have been left on our own. God puts in us this desire and this will to act. He is the one who initiates that hunger in us for holiness. He is the one who makes us want to pursue this even though it is difficult. So we have the Lord's help. We also have the help of fellow believers. So this is not something that we are being asked to do on our own and also another thing which kind of motivates us to walk in holiness is the fact that God says that He will bless us when we do that. So we also have this reward that we can look forward to. Maybe someone could read out Deuteronomy chapter 30 versus one to three. Deuteronomy 30, one to three. Deuteronomy chapter 30 versus one to three. When all these blessings and curses I have said before you comes upon you and you take them to heart wherever the Lord your God disperses you among the nations. And when you and your children return to the Lord your God and obey Him with all your heart and with all your soul according to everything I command you today then the Lord your God will restore your fortunes and have compassion on you and gather you again from all the nations where He scattered you. Here it says, you know, if you take, okay, in Deuteronomy 30 verse one it says, if you take them to heart wherever the Lord your God has dispersed you. So what God is saying, the word of correction that He's offering, if the Lord says if you take that to heart and if you act upon it and in verse two it says, if you return to the Lord your God and obey Him if you do that verse three says, the Lord your God will restore your fortunes and have compassion on you. So we have this assurance that times of refreshing will come from the Lord. We are given this promise that His light will begin to flood our lives, every area of our lives where earlier we only felt hopelessness and darkness. Now, you know, His light will begin to flood even those areas of life where we think that nothing will change, where God will never help. Why? Because now we have chosen to take to heart what He has said and we are now actually actively trying to apply those things in our lives. So we have the support of God Himself who gives us that desire that will to live according to His will. We have the support of fellow believers who stand with us and help us to overcome our sin. We also have this assurance of the reward which is awaiting us. Of course, there's an eternal reward in heaven but even while we are here on this earth God promises that He will restore our fortunes. Even as we begin to walk in holiness we will also experience the blessings of His presence. Because holiness leads to a greater presence of God in our lives, it will also automatically draw in more of His light. Areas of darkness where things were not working out those areas are now flooded with His light and the evil forces can no longer harm us oppress us in those areas. So we will in fact begin to see even blessings to a greater level when we walk in holiness. So all of this should kind of encourage us and make us believe that this is not something hopeless. What we are doing is something which actually will bear a lot of good fruit. So we should have this active hope in us. Now, in one of your chapters, yeah, it is chapter four, chapter four of this repentance section it kind of gives you a brief summary about what Romans talks about because in Romans, the main emphasis of Paul was that, now you guys have become believers. So you can't continue living the way you used to before. That was an old attitude that's gone away with the old life. Now you have been made new. So now you cannot continue the way you were earlier. So very briefly in chapter four, there's a kind of summary given about what the different chapters of Romans are talking about. So maybe we could just very shortly look at that. Romans chapter five, it basically starts off in Romans chapter five where he explains that we have now been made free, we have been justified, we have received an abundance of God's grace, all those things, all the beautiful things that we have now received from God, those things are talked about in Romans chapter five. Maybe we can actually just read out Romans chapter five versus one and two. If someone could read out Romans five, one and two. Romans chapter five versus one and two. Therefore, since we have been justified through faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ through whom we have gained access by faith into His grace in which we now stand and we rejoice in the hope of the glory of God. Okay, so a lot of good things have been done for us. We have been justified through faith. We now have peace with God. God is no longer angry with us. He no longer wants to judge us. We now have His grace which is available to us. You know, it's a grace which enables us to walk in a different way and we have this future hope of glory which is awaiting us, the hope of the glory of God. So we have all of these good things and so because we have all of these good things, we cannot continue in sin. Just because grace is there, we can't say now that grace is available to me in abundance and I have all of these things. I even have hope of a future glory because all of these things are awaiting me. I cannot just simply say I will continue in sin. So Romans 6 talks about that. It talks about how? Because grace is now available to you. Don't say I will continue to sin. Rather you should take a stand and say no that you will honor God. So Romans 6 verses 1 and 2, if someone could read out Romans 6, 1 and 2. Romans 6 was 1 and 2. What shall we say then? Shall we go on sinning so that grace may increase by no means. We died to sin. How can we live in it any longer? Okay, so in Romans 5, after talking about all the privileges that we have in Christ, Romans 6 says don't take these privileges for granted. Rather guard yourselves and take a stand against sin. Why? Because we have died to sin and if we have died to sin, how can we live it in it any longer? We've already looked at that. Romans 6 verses 6 to 7, where it talks about how the old self has already been crucified with Christ. So we are now a new creation. So we no longer need to live in sin. So Romans 6 emphasizes that. And then Romans 7 goes on to talk about how unregenerated people live. We are the regenerated ones. The Holy Spirit regenerated us. He made us into a new creation. So we have been birthed as a new person by Him. But the people who are still living unregenerated lives, they live in sin. So that is when in Romans 7, Paul talks about how he wants to follow God, but he's unable to follow God. And so he talks about his past life. That would be Romans 7, was 14 to 20. He says, I am unspiritual, sold as a slave to sin. He says in Romans 7, 14. And then Romans 7, 15, he goes on to say, for what I want to do, I do not do, but what I hate, I do. And then 17, he says, it is no longer I myself who do it, but it is sin living in me. So he says, you know, sin is controlling me. It's not allowing me to do what I actually want to do. Then verse 18, he says, I have the desire to do what is good, but I cannot carry it out. And then verse 19, he says, I do not do the good I want to do, but the evil I do not want to do. This I keep on doing. So all of these things he talks about. And he says, you know what? We are not like that anymore. So we are Romans 5, Romans 5, which says that we have been set free. We have been justified. Romans 6, which says that now the old self is gone. We are now a new creation who have the power and the freedom to live a holy life. So we cannot use the excuses which the unregenerated people will use. So Romans 7 does not apply to us. We cannot use Romans 7 and say, oh, I want to do good, but I'm unable to do. We cannot use that excuse. Why? Because of Romans 5 and Romans 6. And so he says in Romans 8, we have to make a conscious choice to walk in the spirit. We have to make a conscious choice to end the sinful deeds that we are, you know, still entertaining. So Romans chapter 8 verses 12 to 13, if someone could read out, Romans 8, 12 to 13. Romans chapter 8 verse 12 to 13. Therefore, brothers, we have an obligation, but it is not to the sinful nature to live according to it. But if you live according to the sinful nature, you will die. But if by the spirit you put to death in the states of the body, you will live. So he says, we cannot use the excuse which Romans chapter 7 unregenerated people use. They are helpless. They are under the control of sin. But what about us? We are Romans 6. We are a new creation. We are Romans 5. We have been set free. We have been justified. We have been given abundant grace. So we are Romans 6 and Romans chapter 5 and Romans 6. So we can't pretend that we are helpless like the Romans 7 people. So he says in Romans 8, you have an obligation because of who you have been made into by God. You now have an obligation. You have an obligation to live according to the spirit and put to death the misdeeds of the body. So he says we would have to take an active step where we say no to the flesh and we say yes to the spirit. It's something that we are obligated to do now. And so then in Romans chapter 12, he says, how do you do this? You do this by constantly renewing your mind. If your mind goes on thinking the old thought patterns, if it goes on saying thinking that sin is okay, that sin is all right, then no change will ever take place. So on a daily basis, we would have to actively renew our mind and teach it to follow the Lord, teach it to follow the ways of the Lord. And so Romans chapter 12 was two which we are very familiar with. It says, be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Okay, so the focus of Romans, one of the main points of focus in Romans is how now that we have been made new in Christ, we now have a obligation to the spirit to follow him. We no longer have an obligation to the flesh to follow its desires. So this is repentance, where we actually choose to follow the spirit rather than follow our own fleshly desires. So you could say that the teaching on repentance is kind of summed up in the book of Romans. Now coming to another aspect, maybe if someone could read out Titus chapter two versus 11 to 14. Titus two, 11 to 14. Titus chapter two versus 11 to 14, for the grace of God that brings salvation has appeared to all men. It teaches us to say no to ungodliness and worldly passions and to live self-controlled, upright and godly lives in the present age. While we wait for the blessed hope, the glory is appearing of our great God and Saviour Jesus Christ who gave himself for us to redeem us from all wickedness and to purify for himself for people that are his very own eager to do what is good. Okay, so here in the letter to Titus, this is what he says. He says, why did Jesus Christ redeem us? It says in verse 14, Titus two was 14. He redeemed us from all wickedness. Why? So that to purify for himself for people who will be eager to do what is good. Okay, so the whole point in God redeeming us is so that we will become eager to do what is good. And that is why it says in first John chapter one verse six to seven, if we claim to have fellowship with him and yet walk in the darkness, we lie and do not live out the truth. So the whole reason why we were redeemed is so that we will become a pure people who are eager to do what is good. So instead of being eager to do what is good, if we are continuing to walk in the darkness, then we don't really have fellowship with Jesus Christ. So if someone could read out first John chapter one versus six to 10. Yeah, I think yeah, it's good if we can read the entire section. First John chapter one versus six to 10. First John chapter one versus six to 10. If we say that we have fellowship with him and walk in darkness, we lie and do not practice the truth. But if we walk in the light as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another and the blood of Jesus Christ, his son, cleanses us from all sin. If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, he's faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. If we say that we have not sinned, we make him a liar and his word is not in us. Okay, so over here in first John chapter one versus six to 10, it's talking about two kinds of lies which these people were speaking. The letter, the first letter which John wrote to the believers, he's basically trying to address some false teachings which have come into the church, all right? So at that point of time, there was this teaching going around that once Jesus Christ has washed your sins and clothed you with his righteousness, you are no longer capable of making any sin. So you can do what you want, but it is not sin. Why? Because God has sanctified you. So anything that you do is no longer a sin. So they had this kind of wrong idea and so because they were thinking that now we have been sanctified, they were becoming kind of slack in their spiritual walk. They were entertaining compromises and no longer keeping themselves truly holy. And so the first lie which John points out is, people are saying that you're having fellowship with Jesus, but look at your lifestyle. You're walking in the darkness. So lie number one, the first lie is that you're actually not in fellowship with Jesus. You think that you're in fellowship with Jesus, but when you look at your lifestyle, it's actually you're walking in darkness. And this is second lie. The second lie is that you are pretending that you have no sin. So even though you are doing things which are questionable, you are pretending and saying that, no, this is not sin because I am a sanctified believer. So John clarifies and he says, people who are living in habitual sin on a daily basis, daily consciously going against what God wants and they are habitually living in sin, such people they should not even bother claiming that they have fellowship with Christ because they don't. On the other hand, all believers will fall into sin sometime or the other, because we have not yet become completely renewed in our mind and we are also still stuck inside this human body which has all these fleshly desires. So because of these reasons, we have not yet become completely perfect. So even believers will sin once in a while and when we do that rather than pretending and saying to ourselves, no, no, this is not sin because I am a sanctified believer. It's better to openly confess to the Lord and say, yes, what I have done is wrong, oh Lord. And we ask him for his forgiveness. And when we do that, it says in 1 John 1 9, he purifies us from all unrighteousness. Okay, so on the other hand, he says in verse 10, on the other hand, if you're claiming and saying, no, no, no, we have not sinned, then you're saying that God is a liar. God is saying that you have committed a wrong, that you have committed a sin and so it is better for you to admit that you have sinned. So over here, repentance is two things. First of all, we look at our life, our everyday life and we ask ourselves, am I habitually living in sin? There may be some three or four things that we are kind of unable to overcome and we are everyday living in that sinful lifestyle. If that is the case, then we should stop pretending that we have fellowship with Jesus. We should instead become very alert and understand the danger that we are in and we must consciously work towards getting back into actual fellowship with the Lord. So that is the first thing. The second thing it says over here is that there are times when we will fail the Lord. There are times when we will go into sin. When we do that, rather than pretending that what we have done is not sin, we must openly admit that we have committed a sinful deed and then the Lord Himself will forgive us and He will purify us from that unrighteous act and He will also in fact purify us from the unrighteousness which is there in our life, in our mind. So He will begin to cleanse us because we have honestly gone to Him and admitted our weakness. So repentance is not hiding from God and pretending that everything is okay. Rather, repentance is openly going to Him and saying, yes, what I have done is wrong, but Lord, now You purify me from unrighteousness. You help me to live right and then the Lord empowers us to do that. Just to look at another passage in this context, John chapter 3 verses 20 and 21, if someone could read out, John chapter 3 verses 20 and 21. John chapter 3 verse 20 and 21, everyone who does evil hates the light and will not come into the light for fear that his deeds shall be exposed, but whoever lives by the truth comes into the light so that it may be seen plainly that what he has done has been done through God. Okay, so people of darkness, people who are not yet a part of God's family, they avoid the light because they know that if they come into the light, into the full light of the holiness of God, then all the things which they are pretending are good and nice are not really nice because everyone will be able to see the ugliness of what they are doing because now they are standing in the light of God's holiness. So ungodly people will try to hide from the light, but it says people who are believers, people who are the people of God, they should be willing to come and be there in the light. They should not be people who hide and say, oh, no, no, no, what I'm doing is not really sinful. Ah, I know I'm actually a sanctified believer so I'm incapable of sin. Those would all be very silly things to say, rather it is good for us to come directly into the light and say, yes, Lord, I admit that what I have done is wrong, you know, because when we try to hide the truth, that gives Satan a foothold. So rather than trying to hide in the darkness, even when we have done wrong, we choose to come into the light and say, yes, Lord, I stand over here exposed and Lord, I repent and now Lord, you purify me from unrighteousness. So rather than hiding from God, it is better to come openly before Him and admit our weakness, admit our sinfulness and when we do that, He purifies us from unrighteousness and, you know, He strengthens us. Yeah, so just another, maybe another one was before we move on to the next thought. First John chapter three, verse four. If someone could read out, first John chapter three, verse four. First John chapter three, verse four. We shall we like Him? Okay, whereas John chapter three, verse four. Everyone who sins breaks the law, in fact sin is lawlessness. Okay, so everyone who sins breaks the law. So even a believer who has done a sinful deed, that is considered as lawlessness. So, you know, there's no such thing as a holy sin. Okay, that was the wrong, you know, teaching that was going on at that time. You know, in the time of John, when he was forced to write that letter to correct them. So at that time they were saying, you know, oh, now we are a holy people. So even if we sin, you know, it gets covered by the holiness of God. So there is no such thing as a holy sin. Sin is lawlessness. It is a breaking of the law. It's a breaking of God's commandments. So whether, even if you are a believer, if you have committed a sin, you can't just say that, you know, God will just cover it up. It is an act of lawlessness. It's an act of rebellion against God. So you would have to repent and come back to God and say, yes, what I did is was in rebellion against you. But now, you know, I'm repenting of my rebelliousness and I'm coming back to you and I'm willing to submit myself to you. Okay, so there is no such thing as a holy sin. Sin is sin. So we too have to, you know, confess our sins whenever we do anything that is wrong. Maybe we can also look at First Corinthians chapter one, verse 30. If someone could read out First Corinthians one, verse 30. First Corinthians chapter one, verse 13. Is it right? 30, 30, 30, sorry here, my pronunciation. First Corinthians one, 30, 30, 130. But of him, you are in Christ Jesus, who became for us wisdom from God and unrighteousness and sanctification and redemption. It says that Jesus Christ is our righteousness. He is our holiness. He is our redemption. So because he is these things, we choose to stay in him. We choose to abide in him. So rather than pretending that what we are doing is not sinful, you know, we admit that we have, you know, the branch has kind of become disconnected from the wine. So we admit and say, Lord, what I have done, it has kind of weakened my connection, you know, with the wine. And so we choose to go back to him. And when we repent, it's like, you know, we are reattaching ourselves firmly, you know, into the wine. And when we do that, his righteousness, his holiness and his redemption, you know, it flows into our lives. And that is why it says in First Corinthians chapter five, verses 11 to 13, those who are not doing this abiding, you know, those who are continuing to enjoy their habitual sins, such people, we must not even associate with them. That's what it says over there in First Corinthians five, 11 to 13, it says, you must not associate with anyone who claims to be a brother or sister, but is sexually immoral or greedy or an idolator or a slanderer and all of this long list of things. Do not even eat with such people, okay? So you're not supposed to have any social fellowship with such people. And then it goes on to say in verse 13, expel the wicked person from among you. So that should be our stand. We are people who make a conscious choice to abide in the wine, to have to maintain a strong connection with the wine. And if we have people like this among us, who are tempting us to, you know, become more compromising in our standards, people who are kind of, you know, encouraging us to take holiness in a light manner, then we would have to take a very strict stand and in fact expel such people from our community. So that they don't contaminate our standards. So we maintain, we continue to maintain the high standards that God requires of us. In fact, the same thing is applied even to the leaders. You know, 1st Timothy chapter five verses 19 to 22, it talks, so it's talking very specifically about the leaders of the church over here. And it says, but those, you know, 1st Timothy chapter five verse 20, it says, those elders who are sinning, you are to reprove before everyone so that the others may take warning. So when a leader is living in habitual sin, in front of everyone, he must be publicly corrected. Why? So that the rest of the congregation, which is looking up to this leader, will realize the truth and, you know, they will see how is this person going to respond now? Will he humbly repent and change? Or is he going to arrogantly try to, you know, support the sinful thing that he is doing? So leaders have to be publicly corrected when they are living in habitual sin and are refusing to give up certain things. And then in 1st Timothy five verse 21, it goes on to say, you know, keep these instructions without partiality and to do nothing out of favoritism. So just because they are leaders, you know, don't give them special treatment. Just the way you would throw out, you know, the same way you would expel a believer who is doing a wrong thing, you know, and holding on to the wrong teaching and spreading it, you must treat the leaders also in the same way. You must be willing to take serious action against them. And so over here, Paul says, don't show partiality, don't show favoritism. Even if they are leaders, you must take action against them. So this is the serious stand, you know, which the church is called upon to take regarding holiness because in God's eyes, you know, all sins are equally evil, you know, we're kind of out of time. But you know, just for me to touch upon revelation, chapter 21 verse eight, you know, it talks about all the terrible people who did not make it into heaven. It talks about murderers. It talks about the sexually immoral. It talks about people who have, you know, indulged in witchcraft and little associated with the evil spirits. It talks about all of those people, but it also talks about liars. So in God's eyes, doesn't matter whether, you know, you're involved in murder and adultery, or whether you're just a person who knows the habitual liar. The point is sin is sin, and sin leads to only one single destination. Whether you have, you know, managed to go to hell by committing murder, or whether you have managed to go to hell because, you know, you enjoy living in a lie and, you know, you are not willing to give up that habitual lying. It's equally serious. So sin is sin. And so the whole point of today's session is not to take, not to be comfortable at our level, but to reach out and make his thoughts, our thoughts to reach his level of living. Let his ways be our ways. Okay, so we really are out of time. So let's just close with a word of prayer. Lord, we just thank you so much for today's session. Thank you a lot for reminding us once again that you are thinking of action. It's not enough for us to talk about holiness. It's not enough for us to just pray and say, oh Lord, make us holy. It is also time for us, oh Lord, to actually act, to examine ourselves and see what is lacking. And if we are lacking, our thoughts are not in line with yours, oh Lord, help us to bring them in alignment with your thoughts. If our actions, our ways are not your ways, then I pray, oh Lord, that you would give us that strength that we need to align ourselves with your ways. We pray, oh Lord, that you would help each one of us to do this by the power of your Holy Spirit through your strengthening. We pray, oh Lord, that we would actually take action this week to repair and mend and repent of those things, oh Lord, that need to be taken care of. You help us, oh Lord, to do that. Thank you, Lord. In Jesus' name, amen, amen. Thank you so much for those of you who have stuck out to up to the end. Yeah, we'll meet again next week. Thank you.